PM asserts any terror attempt by Pak will be crushed with full force
DRAS/NEW DELHI, July 26: India on Friday hailed the valour of its soldiers in the Kargil conflict 25 years ago with Prime Minister Narendra Modi issuing a stern message to Pakistan, saying it has been trying to stay relevant by using terrorism and proxy wars but all such terror attempts will be crushed with full force.
Various events were organised in states and at the Kargil War Memorial in Dras in Ladakh to mark the 25th Kargil Vijay Diwas.
In Parliament, members paid their homage to the fallen soldiers. As a mark of respect to the over 500 soldiers who laid their lives in the war, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members stood in silence for a brief while.
President Droupadi Murmu said the Kargil Vijay Diwas is an occasion to pay tributes to the ?courage and extraordinary valour of the country’s armed forces.
“I pay tribute to each soldier who made the supreme sacrifice while protecting Mother India on the peaks of Kargil in 1999 and bow in reverence to their sacred memory. I am sure that all countrymen will draw inspiration from their sacrifice and valour. Jai Hind Jai Bharat!” she said in a post in Hindi on X.
A shepherd named Tashi Namgyal is believed to have reported the intrusion by Pakistani soldiers into Kargil on May 2, 1999. The Indian Army launched a fierce counter-assault, Operation Vijay, to push back the Pakistani forces that had stealthily occupied important heights in Ladakh. The war went on for nearly three months on the icy heights.
On July 26, 1999, the Army announced the successful culmination of Operation Vijay, declaring victory over Pakistan.
Addressing a ceremony at the Kargil memorial in Dras, Modi said “falsehood and terror” were brought down to their knees by truth in the 1999 war. He also noted that Pakistan has not learnt anything from its past.
“Today, I am speaking at a place from where the masters of terror can hear my voice directly. I want to tell these patrons of terrorism that their nefarious intentions will never succeed,” Modi said in the presence of India’s top military brass.
Paying glowing tributes to the fallen soldiers, he said, “In Kargil, we not only won the war, we presented an incredible example of truth, restraint and strength,” adding, “The nation is forever indebted and deeply grateful to the mighty superheroes of our armed forces.”
The war saw Indian armed forces fight in the most challenging terrains amid harsh weather conditions in Drass, Kargil and Batalik sectors. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also paid tributes to the martyrs of the Kargil War.
“On Kargil Vijay Diwas, my salutations to the immortal martyrs who sacrificed themselves to protect India. The country will always be indebted to them for their supreme sacrifice,” he said in a post in Hindi on X.
Namgyal recalled he saw some people breaking stones and clearing the snow on the mountain and suspecting something fishing, rushed to inform the Indian Army outpost.
“The men were dressed in black uniforms and were building a post with rocks. My job was to report; identifying who they were was the army’s job,” Namgyal said.
For the families of the soldiers who laid down their lives protecting Indian territory from intruders, Kargil Vijay Diwas is an occasion that invokes feelings of both pain and pride.
Every year for the last 25 years, a Kargil war braveheart has been visiting the home of his buddy Udayman Singh, who fell to Pakistani bullets during the battle to recapture Tiger Hill. (PTI)